


Unanticipated

by Ariel_Tempest



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Fluff, Humor, Lizzy Ellis, Multi, Phone Call, Silly boy, dropped scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25600459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariel_Tempest/pseuds/Ariel_Tempest
Summary: Thomas makes a phone call.It doesn't go as planned.This is because Thomas Barrow is a very silly boy.
Relationships: Richard Ellis/Original Female Character, Thomas Barrow/Richard Ellis
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Unanticipated

**Author's Note:**

> Just an off the cuff thing. No beta, but it's too short to really need one.
> 
> When Michael Engler said that there'd been a scene where Thomas called Richard, got his wife, and it had been dropped because when it was all put together they'd decided it was "defeatist", the most obvious assumption was that Thomas had been clearly crushed by the experience. Thing is, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that was _blatantly_ defeatist, not the sort of thing that you realized came off wrong after the fact. So when working through my concept for Movie From Richard's PoV, which I will write some day, probably just before I die of old age, I tried to think of a situation that would read well on paper, but would fall flat if you stripped it down to action, body language, and dialogue. 
> 
> This was what I came up with.

The phone rang.

Thomas closed his eyes and reminded himself to breathe. His hand slipped into his pocket and touched the cool metal of the key ring hidden there, reminding himself that he’d not been dreaming. Richard Ellis was real. He had said he wanted to stay in touch. They had kissed. There was, in short, nothing wrong or desperate or anything of the sort to be found in Thomas calling up and making sure the other man had made it back to London safely.

After all, Matthew Crawley had died driving home from the village. It was perfectly plausible that Richard Ellis could have died in a train crash. That Thomas hadn’t heard about yet. Because it would be in the morning paper. Which would be just his sort of luck.

He was not being ridiculous.

The phone rang again, and a third time. Halfway through the forth, there was a click and a polite voice answered. It was not Richard's voice. “Hello,” it said, “This is the Ellis residence, Mrs. Ellis speaking.”

Thomas’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Mrs. Ellis.

Of course, yes. Richard had mentioned being married on the drive back from York. Lizzy, that was her name. 

Somehow the fact that she might answer the phone instead of Richard had not occurred to him.

“Hello?” the voice asked again.

“Yes, hello,” Thomas managed, snapping out of his surprise. “Sorry. I…ah…is Mr. Ellis available?”

A hint of confused amusement tinged the reply. “I’m afraid not. He’s been out of town and is still up at the palace. I expect him home sometime this evening, though. May I ask who’s calling?”

Still at the palace. Right, of course. Richard had a flat. His wife lived in the flat. The operator had connected him to the flat, not Buckingham. 

“Hello? Are you still there?”

“Yes, yes, I am,” Thomas wracked his brain for something to say. In all honesty, he’d not known what he was going to say to Richard. Not on the phone. Not when the other man had just left Downton that morning. 

He hadn’t the first clue what to say to the other man’s wife.

“My name is Thomas Barrow,” he managed. So far so good.

“I see. And would you like to leave a message?”

Would he? Yes, he thought he rather would. But what? He couldn’t very well tell the other man’s wife that he was just checking in, to make certain he was alright. Not when she’d never heard of him before. That would be strange, wouldn’t it? He certainly couldn’t tell her that he had gone the full day so far without losing that key ring. “No, no message,” he finally stammered. “Thank you. Have a good night.”

He hung up.

For a long moment, he just stared at the phone. Then he buried his face in his hands. What was wrong with him? No message? Barely able to eke out his name? The woman undoubtedly thought him mad. Utterly barking. There was no earthly chance of her actually telling Richard about the call, not after that.

Taking a deep breath, he sat up and laid his palms flat on his desk. It was, he supposed, a good thing if she didn’t mention the call. Better Richard didn’t know what a fool he’d been. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the key ring out and studied it, his eyes tracing the curve of the moon in the silver. He was an idiot. He was an absolute idiot. But Richard had to know that, didn’t he? After all, he’d been replaced by a man with palsy. He’d wound up in prison for being too stupid to stay at the pub.

He looked at the phone. Perhaps Lizzy was an idiot too. She hadn’t seemed like one, but maybe. Maybe Richard just liked idiots.

It seemed a stretch, but maybe, just maybe, Thomas was that lucky.

There was a knock on the door. Tucking the key ring back in his pocket, Thomas folded his hands and tried to look as neat and composed as possible. “Come in.”

The door opened and Andrew stuck his head through it. “Ah, I hate to disturb you, Mr. Barrow, but there’s a bit of a dispute over the wireless.”

“The wireless?”

“Yes. That is, the hall boys want to listen to music, but Mr. Carson wants the news.”

Thomas rolled his eyes. Carson would. Of course, he was the last person in the house to pit against the former butler. “You’re better off getting Mrs. Hughes for that one.”

“Oh, she’s already speaking for the staff,” Andrew assured him. “Only she could use a bit of backup.”

With a sigh, Thomas stood. He might be an idiot, but at least he wasn’t the only one in the house.


End file.
